This archive report was first published on 18 November 2019.
On September 30, 2019, Vodacom Tanzania Plc reported a 6.5% increase in earnings for the six months to September 2019, driven by strong revenue growth in its M-Pesa, mobile data, and messaging services.
According to the company's financial report, M-Pesa revenue increased by 15.9% to Tsh182 billion ($78 million) from Tsh157 billion ($67.4 million) in the same period last year. Mobile data revenue also grew by 17.4% to Tsh91.2 billion ($39.1 million) from Tsh77.6 billion ($33.3 million) in 2018.
Meanwhile, messaging revenue grew by 11% to Tsh21 billion ($9 million) from Tsh19 billion ($8.16 million) in the six months to September. However, mobile voice revenue dropped by 1% from Tsh196.6 billion ($85.2 million) in September 2018 to Tsh194.7 billion ($84 million) in September 2019.
“Our key strategic growth pillars, being M-Pesa and data, continued to deliver good results despite intensified competition in the market. Looking ahead, we continue to make good progress on our key growth pillars. We are pleased with the 764,000 net customer additions during the period,” said Hisham Hendi, the managing director of Vodacom Tanzania Plc.
As of September 2019, M-Pesa contributed 34.4% of the company’s revenue. The service has expanded to micro-loans, merchant payment systems, and increased interconnection with banks and other operators.
According to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority, Vodacom leads the mobile money market at 41%, followed by TigoPesa at 30%, Bharti Airtel (Airtel Money) with 18%, and Halopesa from Vietel Halotel at 7% and Ezy Pesa from Zantel at 2%.
